Freedom

I was going through a box of old pictures and memories and came across a book that I read over 20 years ago. I had forgotten all about it. It's called "How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World" by Harry Browne.

Sometimes books, people, shows, songs, bumper stickers etc., come along right at the time when we need them most. I'm soaking up the concepts of this book. So much of it makes sense in that way that you say to yourself, "Hey, everyone knows that" but then we realize that we don't really know it deep down; in a way that affects the way we are living our life. Although I do not agree with every senence he's written here, it's helping me to coalesce what I want for my life and helping me realize that I'm the only one responsible for getting it.

Here's a quote from the book.

"A free person doesn't try to remake the world or his friends or his family. He merely appraises every situation by a single standard: Is this what I want for myself? If it isn't he looks elsewhere. If it is he relaxes and enjoys it - without the problems other people take for granted"

He talks about different traps we often fall into such as The Identity Trap, The Intellectual and Emotional Trap, The Morality Trap and, of great importance to me, The Unselfish Trap. I'm only half way through the book. It's been hard to put down.

Freedom is this word that means different things to different people. I'm starting to understand that we are only as free as we let ourselves be and that often we are also the ones who put ourselves in prison.

Or to quote a line from the Eagle's song, "Already Gone"

"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains and we never even know we have the key"